- I like scholarly, gentle, masculine names. Nothing cartoonishly manly.
- historical depth and namesakes are very important to me
- no more than 1 middle name (brightline rule per husband)
- at least one of the two names must be that of a saint recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church. This includes all Christian saints canonized before the Great Schism in the 11th century, and all Greek/Russian/Arab/Slavic saints canonized since.
- baby's surname is distinctly Arabic and phonetically works like "Nawaal" or "Nasim." First syllable is Na-.
- since I'm not Arab, I'm not looking for an Arabic first name, but would consider one for the middle
- French names are great; I speak French fluently as does husband's Lebanese family. However in the States diacritical marks aren't allowed, so nothing whose pronunciation depends on one. For boys, French names need to be very easily recognized & pronounced to be considered (there aren't many).
- if we picked one of the more... ornately Byzantine middles (like Auxentius) we'd pair it with a very traditional first like John, Peter or George
- should pair coherently with son AntoineRaphael

Thanks Kitty. The diacritical marks make it tough... and I would need the name to be a bit more familiar for a boy than for a girl (for a girl I can dip into really obscure French names, as most Americans stereotype French as feminine). I've got Laurence, Victor and Blaise right now. Don't want anything too nasal like Etienne or Arnaud.

Blade, congratulations! I don't think I've said it yet...? Lots of new little berry babies on the way! I don't have any creativeness in my brain at the moment I'm afraid, but I think your list is basking in glittering sunshine already. I like so many so very much (not surprised there as we share a lot of our favs), but Cyprian and Leander strikes me as the most suitable for a little bro for Antoine. I love Sylvan and Rainier as middles, but holy moses, Athanasius and Auxentius might've stolen my heart. Beautiful awesomeness!